Congressman Rohrabacher Guantanamo Amendment Passes House

Jul 20, 2005

News

Washington, Jul 20, 2005 - The House of Representatives today adopted an amendment to the Foreign Relations Authorization Act introduced by Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) that expresses the sense of Congress that the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba should remain open.

“The recent criticism of Guantanamo fails to mention that this a prison full of terrorists, the kind who target innocent women and children,” said Rep. Rohrabacher. “Of some 24,000 interrogations that have taken place there, investigators found nine possible cases of abuse which are being aggressively pursued. This is far from an ‘American Gulag’ or some of the more outrageous comments made about it.”

Guantanamo has removed hundreds of terrorists from the battlefield and has resulted in capturing intelligence on the procedures and methods of Al-Qaeda. Guantanamo houses some of the world’s worst terrorists; approximately ten percent of released Guantanamo detainees have retuned to the battlefield. Unlike previous conflicts, detainees at Guantanamo are unlawful combatants, not traditional prisoners of war. Detainees are treated humanely, given access to a lawyer, regular religious worship times and materials, and are provided with an annual review of their status.

“Guantanamo has yielded important breakthroughs in the War on Terror,” stated Rep. Rohrabacher. “Closing Guantanamo would hinder our ability to win this war by strengthening the hands of our enemies.”